Former Navy pilot, Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Hudner Jr. dies at 93

BOSTON — A former U.S. Navy captain and pilot who received the Medal of Honor for his heroics during the Korean War has died. Thomas Hudner Jr. was 93.

Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services Secretary Francisco Urena announced Hudner’s death Monday. Hudner was the former commissioner of the department.

Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War in 1950 after his plane came under enemy fire and he crash-landed in an unsuccessful effort to save the life of his wingman and friend, Ensign Jesse Brown, the Navy’s first black combat pilot.

Hudner watched this year as the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, was christened at Bath Iron Works in Maine. Last year, 50 Navy petty officers serenaded Hudner outside his Concord home on his 92nd birthday.

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